Investigators are seeking more information about David E. Pouliot of Springfield in connection with the 1993 killing of Holly Piirainen

The Republican | Mark M. Murray01.03.2012 | SPRINGFIELD - Maureen E. Lemieux, grandmother of Holly Piirainen, speaks to reporters during a press conference that discussed new leads in the 1993 homicide of her grandaughter.

SPRINGFIELD - Investigators are seeking the public's help in gathering more information about a now deceased Springfield man they have linked to the 1993 homicide of 10-year-old Holly Piirainen.

Information is being sought on the activities, whereabouts and companions of David E. Pouliot on the day the child from Grafton was abducted in Sturbridge in August 1993 and in the weeks and months which followed, Hampden district attorney Mark G. Mastroianni announced today.

She disappeared from near her grandmother's cottage on Aug. 5, 1993, and her body was discovered in a wooded area of Brimfield on Oct. 23, 1993.

New forensic testing of evidence found in the vicinity of where the remains were located has established a link to Pouliot, who died in 2003, Mastroianni said at a press conference in the Hampden Hall of Justice. The testing provided an indisputable match with Pouliot, according to the district attorney.

It was also announced that a $15,000 reward fund has been established in connection with the case. State Sen. Stephen M. Brewer, D-Barre, said he and state Rep. Todd M. Smola, R-Palmer, have created the fund for information leading to the arrest and conviction of someone for the homicide.

The district attorney said the evaluation of the “nature and character” of the piece of evidence, as well as the specific area in which it was found and its condition resulted in a determination that it is "significant evidence." It was found in close, but not immediate, proximity to the child's remains.

"The nature of the item suggests either Mr. Pouliot or people associated with him were in the area at a time relevant to the disappearance of Holly and the discovery of her remains," Mastroianni said.

A photo of David E. Pouliot shown during Tuesday's press conference.

Pouliot died in August 2003 at the age of 49; a death certificate filed with the city of Springfield shows he died of congestive heart failure and hypertension, with diabetes and cocaine use listed as contributing conditions.

Mastroianni stressed that Pouliot is not a suspect, saying it would be “irresponsible” to put that label on him at this point in the investigation.

Mastroianni and State Police Capt. Peter Higgins said they would not provide any details of the evidence which has linked Pouliot to the crime; they would also not specify the type of testing conducted. Information provided by the public must be reviewed for its integrity, and that means holding back the details to avoid false reports, Mastroianni said.

Investigators are looking for information about Pouliot not just on the day of the child's abduction but over a period of time surrounding the crime, according to the district attorney.

Pouliot did not have any known connection to the Piirainen family, according to the district attorney. Pouliot would not have any reason to have known the child would be in Sturbridge, so she would not have been specifically targeted, Higgins said.

Holly Piirainen, her father and brothers had been visiting her grandmother's cottage on South Pond in Sturbridge on Aug. 5, 1993 when she disappeared. Holly and then-5-year-old Zachary Piirainen went to see the neighbor’s puppies about noon. The boy returned to the grandmother’s house without Holly.

Holly’s father sent her other brother, then-8-year-old Andrew Piirainen, to get her, but all he found was her shoe; she was reported missing to police at about 12:50 p.m., sparking a search by some 80 police officers and volunteers through the woods surrounding the family’s cottage.

The next day more than 350 state and local police and volunteers continued the search for Piirainen in the wooded area near where she was last seen.

Her body was found by hunters on Oct. 23, 1993, in a wooded area of Brimfield approximately five miles away.

An obituary for Pouliot published by The Republican on Aug. 17, 2003, stated that he died at his mother’s residence where he lived in Springfield. He was a 1972 graduate of Technical High School and had worked for the city Parks Department and as a union carpenter. He had also been employed by the state Department of Youth Services juvenile detention center in Westfield, according to the obituary. Pouliot was a Coast Guard veteran, serving during the Vietnam era, and was described in his obituary as having been an avid fisherman and outdoorsman.

Shown at the press conference were photographs of Pouliot, one from the state Registry of Motor Vehicles and one from the Springfield Police Department. Mastroianni wouldn't identify the crime with which Pouliot had been charged by Springfield police, but did Pouliot had no history of arrests for any sex crimes.

The investigation has now turned to "tracking down associates, friends and family of Mr. Pouliot.”

It has been established, he added, that Pouliot “had a strong and long connection to the area, hunting and fishing” around that area around the time of Holly’s disappearance and before that time.

“From this information we are now knocking on doors that people didn’t expect to be knocked on. We are asking questions of people who didn't think that they would have questions being asked of them and we are putting pieces of this puzzle together,” Mastroianni said.

Investigators have not ruled out the possibility that more than one person was involved in the crime, the district attorney said.

Anyone with any information about Pouliot or people connected with him, or any other relevant information should call the State Police at 413-505-5933. Or they can use the text-a-tip line, texting to 274637 and then starting with the word solve and writing the tip.